It's just nerves, honey...

Friday, April 27, 2007

Hiatus, and a clue?

So last week I was having excruciating lower back pain and ended up going to the ER. I got a CT scan which showed two bulging discs. I was given a prescription for Naproxen (a strong NSAID -- anti-inflammatory), some muscle relaxants, and Vicodin. Didn't touch the Vicodin, but I did take the muscle relaxant for a few nights, and I took 1000mg of the Naproxen daily for 4 days (and then went down to just one dose -- 500 mg -- for another two days). Back got MUCH better with total lifting rest and the meds, and by the beginning of this week, I was feeling pretty damn good.

In fact, REALLY damn good. And then I realized that I hadn't had any of my usual tingling, numbness, and general neurological crap since Wednesday when I was sitting in the ER.

Could the Naproxen have done something? Could whatever is causing my wacky symptoms be inflammation-related, and therefore got better when I took the anti-inflammatories??

My back was much better by Tuesday, so I stopped taking the Naproxen (since it's not without side effects, and I'm not one for takings meds unless absolutely necessary).

Last night my hand was tingly. I passed it off as being the way I was lying in bed (though it didn't go away when I shifted position).

Today both hands are tingly, both feet are tingly, my right arm went somewhat numb for a while this morning, and I'm having a lot of weird buzzing and twitchy sensations in my left arm (including my left arm actually visibly twitching along my inner forearm). It is safe to say that the neurological weirdness is back.

Now, I wonder if I started taking the Naproxen again, what would happen? Should I experiment, or wait for a doc to chime in on my little theory? I feel like I finally have a tiny clue as to WTF is going on, and much as I am bummed about being sparky again, I am thrilled to feel like I have a tiny bit more information than I did a week ago.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Update

The MRI was clean, supposedly. Nothing of note. My neuro basically said, "gee, I dunno, you better get a second opinion." Thanks. Very helpful.

I am now in the process of trying to get an appointment with anyone who might be able to figure this thing out. And getting more and more impatient.

In the past month, my right-side numbness has become so common that I barely notice it anymore, except when it interferes with my walking or writing. Last night I was carrying my laptop up to my office and was hugging it to my chest with both arms -- my daughter just says, "Numb?" because she knows I'm more pront to dropping things when I'm numb.

A few new things I've noticed: when my right arm is numb, it is also cold to the touch. Sometimes *quite* cold. And my electric-shock-like sparks are back, big time. Saturday it was like an electric storm in my body. Both sides, though, not just right like the numbness.

And something new: I have a pain in what I can only describe as my right sit bone -- the right back base of my pelvis. Hurts like the dickens and is getting worse every day. Sitting *really* hurts. And I also have pain in my lower back that is intermittent, but when it happens is enough to take my breath away, literally. What the hell??

Every day I think, I can always go to the ER. Is today the day I'm going to go to the ER? Is it bad enough to go yet? I have to keep holding it out there as an option, because the nomral channels don't seem to be working well for me. How hard is it to find a doctor who will find my problems sufficiently interesting to want to solve them?